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Recently, I made the decision to switch my internet service provider (ISP). I switched to another company that charges more, and features a less convenient setup in my home office. This new ISP also had me sign a 2 year contract, which I despise. So why did I make such a drastic switch? It’s simple, my old ISP lost my trust.

As a web developer I often need to connect remotely to work and client servers. Sometimes this involves downloading and transferring large files. Recently, I began to notice a strange pattern of having my bandwidth speed cut in half after a certain period of time. After doing some research I discovered that my local ISP had instituted a policy of throttling my connection in half after I had downloaded a specific amount of data in a 12 hour period. Unfortunately, as a customer I was never made aware of this policy. In fact it is not mentioned on the ISP’s own website or in any of their advertising.

The bottom line is, this policy through my former ISP may have inconvenienced me only once in a while, but I will not do business with a company that promises a certain level of service, and intentionally fails to deliver.

In closing, as the practice of throttling by ISP’s is becoming more common, it is important to ask your ISP up front of they engage in this practice. With the rise in movie streaming and larger file sizes, this may affect you whether you realize it now or not.